


Whumptober 2020 03 Forced To Their Knees

by frankie_mcstein



Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Family Feels, Fluffy Ending, Gen, Whumptober 2020, mild whump, minor threat, sort of clever plans, these two idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26793385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankie_mcstein/pseuds/frankie_mcstein
Summary: Whumptober 2020 prompt 03- Forced To Their KneesIt wasn't much of a plan to begin with. They just needed to stall until someone could intervene...
Relationships: Juliet Higgins & Everyone
Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947172
Comments: 13
Kudos: 42





	Whumptober 2020 03 Forced To Their Knees

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3 and still keeping up. Just!

In the end, the plan was almost ridiculously simple. Rick had used some of Ice Pick’s contacts to spread around word that two ‘private dicks’ knew what was going on, why Kai’s daughter had been kidnapped. Then, Magnum and Higgins had strolled around, very carefully making themselves easy targets so the men who had taken Malia would snatch them up. Rick and T.C. would track them both using their cells, and, in case of emergency, they each had a micro GPS hidden on them, courtesy of one of Higgins’ ‘old friends.’ Even if they didn’t get taken to wherever Kai’s daughter was being held, the idea was they’d at least have enough evidence for Katsumoto to move in and charge the whole gang with kidnapping them. And then he could lean on them for information on Malia’s kidnapping.

Magnum bit back a groan as he was dragged out of the back of the van and dropped rather unceremoniously to the floor. A small thud told him Higgins had been pulled out of the van too. He heard a small gasp that she quickly choked off, a sure sign she had come off worse in the fight than he had thought, but it didn’t stop him feeling a small rush of relief. He’d half-expected their kidnappers to separate them.

All they needed to do was give Rick and T.C. time to catch up with them, hide their vehicles- they’d driven separately in case Magnum and Higgins had been taken to different locations- and find a way into the building. Magnum told himself it wouldn’t take too long and that stalling would be easy. But then Higgins cried out in pain, and Magnum ignored the dizzying ache in his own head to shift himself around, moving awkwardly with his ankles and wrists tied and his body sprawled on the floor, to see his partner curled up, trying to protect her stomach from the foot that was already drawing back for another kick.

“Leave her alone!” he shouted furiously, half to try to actually make the guy back off and half to try to alert Rick and T.C. that they needed to move faster.

The only response was an ugly laugh that rippled around the five men. Then the guy standing over Higgins- Magnum tried desperately not to nickname him ‘Dead Man Walking’- kicked out again. Even curled up as she was, she couldn’t shield herself from the blow and heaved at the pain before choking on her body’s instinctive gasp.

Then Dead Man Walking kneeled in front of her and tangled his fingers in her hair, tugging her head up from her chest.

“Sounds like your friend doesn’t like it when I hurt you. Lucky for him, there’s an easy way to stop me from doing it again.” And he looked away from Higgins to lock eyes with Magnum’s furious gaze. “Tell me how you found out about us.”

“Don’t tell him anything,” Higgins ordered, stretching her accent to its absolute limit and making Magnum blink; he’d never heard her sound more like the Queen of England. “These men are pathetic bullies, and we do not deal with scum.”

There was absolute stillness in the dim building as everyone tried to process what was going on. Higgins was looking at the man still tugging on her hair with an expression of dismissal on her face, Magnum was trying to figure out what on earth she was playing at by goading the guy, and the men who had taken them were trying to decide if they had it all wrong and if the female P.I. was actually the one in charge.

After several long seconds that seemed to drag on, Dead Man Walking lifted his hand, dragging Higgins’ head up from the floor. “You don’t give the orders around here,” he snarled before slamming her head down on the concrete floor. 

She couldn’t hold back the small yelp that was forced out of her, and Magnum felt his stomach twist a little at the noise. He knew she was tough, that she could handle this, but that didn’t mean he was ever going to be okay with her getting hurt. Especially with him right there and unable to protect her.

“I’ll tell you!” he called out, speaking quickly, sounding more panicked than he was, but with just enough of the genuine thing to make it sound believable rather than absurd.

“You absolutely will not!” snapped Higgins with what Magnum suspected was as much energy as she could muster. “I forbid it.” The finality in her voice was unmistakable, and her ploy finally clicked.

The sad fact was, until the van had pulled up onto the sidewalk in front of them, they hadn’t actually been entirely sure that Malia had been kidnapped and hadn’t just run away to be with her pot-smoking boyfriend. Which meant that, as far as actual details went, there wasn’t much they could share. They’d had a vague hope that they would both just be chucked into a cell somewhere rather than interrogated. Magnum was willing to admit the objections everyone had raised to the plan were seeming increasingly relevant. But a nice little argument about whether or not to give in would kill some time. Hopefully enough time that Rick and T.C. could do something clever, like create a distraction maybe, or call in HPD.

As one of the other men stepped forward and landed a savage kick in Higgins’ side- ‘Imminent Compound Fracture,’ Magnum’s protective nature immediately called him- Magnum added ‘kill everyone’ to his list of possible actions their friends would take once they’d assessed the situation.

“I really think we need to tell them.” He tried to inject a wheedling tone into his voice, make it sound like he was trying to convince Higgins it was the sensible thing to do. Hopefully, if the men thought he was talking her around, they would stop trying to convince her themselves.

“And I really doubt your ability to think.” It was said with such a chill that Magnum was sure he saw Imminent Compound Fracture shiver. “After all,” Higgins continued, “I didn’t agree to work with you because of your acute mental abilities.”

“Well, I didn’t agree to partner up with you for your charm,” Magnum snapped back, not missing the tiny hint of a wink that flashed over Higgins’ right eye and offering her the smallest of nods in response.

“What charm I possess will never be wasted on an ignoramus like you.”

“And it doesn’t take a genius to know that you’re full of crap.”

“Oh, what a mature response. Did you think of it all by yourself?”

“No, I borrowed it from the Dear John you got from your last victim. Oh, I mean date!”

“Enough!” The word was practically a scream, and Magnum and Higgins both smirked just a little. Making the person in charge lose their cool was a long-standing tactic to help throw adversaries off-balance, and they were very good at it.

Dead Man Walking walked away from them, the other four men following him, and Magnum took the opportunity to shuffle himself a little closer to Higgins.

“You okay?” he whispered as soon as he was close enough that he thought they wouldn’t be overheard. He didn’t quite manage to smile in response to the small nod she gave, but he tried.

“I think so. I’ll have some spectacular bruises tomorrow.” She tried to laugh a little but winced and sucked in a pained breath. 

Magnum stared at her with worried eyes as the pinched expression failed to fade away. “Rick and T.C. won't have been far behind us,” he offered, resisting the urge to scan the edges of the space and look for them. “We just need to string these guys along for a while longer.”

Higgins nodded, finally opening her eyes. “More talk about my previous victims?” 

Magnum did grin at that and was glad to see the ghost of a smirk on Higgins’ face too. He opened his mouth, but whatever he was about to say was stopped by the men coming back. He glanced up to see Imminent Compound Fracture and another man he happily nicknamed Fractured Jaw, reaching down to grab Higgins’ arms.

They pulled her upright, pushing and shoving until she was on her knees. Dead Man Walking stood in front of her while the other two men tugged at Magnum until he was kneeling too.

Dead Man Walking looked between them for a few moments, time Magnum used to assign the nickname Broken Ribs to the man holding his right arm and Broken Nose to the man holding his left. Then Dead Man Walking pulled a gun and pointed it at Higgins.

“Your friend is going to tell me everything,” he said to her, adjusting his aim, making sure it was obvious he was aiming right between her eyes. “How you found out about us, how you tracked us, why you care so much about Malia when we’ve done this nearly a dozen times before. And he’s going to tell me now.” And he flicked off the safety.

“Okay!” Magnum’s voice rang out. “Okay, just keep calm. I’ll tell you everything.” His eyes were scanning the shadows now, desperate for the slightest hint that Rick and T.C. were there. His ears were straining to catch the sound of sirens that would tell him they had called Katsumoto. But the shadows were still, and the only sound he could hear was the echo of his own voice.

“We didn’t know about the other girls,” he started, trying to figure out how to make ‘we had a few suspicions that you proved were right when you grabbed us’ last for longer than five seconds. “We got a call from Kai, Malina’s father, earlier this week, and that’s when we started investigating. Honestly, we thought she was staying with her boyfriend for a while.”

He kept on, listing the friends they had spoken to, the security footage they had watched, but he could see Dead Man Walking’s eyes narrowing as he kept speaking. Finally, after an agonizing minute or so where he slowly ran out of steam, Magnum stopped talking and watched as Dead Man Walking turned to face him fully.

The man bent his head down and snarled at Magnum. “Basically, you’re saying there’s no reason why I should keep you alive.” And he straightened up and turned back to Higgins.

Magnum tried to pull away from the men holding him, but they were both big men and had grips like iron on his arms. He watched with a sick feeling of helplessness washing over him as Higgins’ eyes focused on the end of the barrel, then slid over to look at him.

Her shoulders lifted as she took a deep breath, centering herself somehow. The fear that had been lurking in her eyes fell back, replaced by a sort of sadness, and he had the insane idea that she wasn’t sorry that she was about to die, only that he was being forced to watch. 

He opened his mouth, although he didn’t know whether he was going to say something to her or beg for her life. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t think of a single word to say, his mind blank of everything except the knowledge that he was about to lose her. A shot rang out, making him yell a denial that sounded strangled to his ears, and Higgins and Dead Man Walking both slumped, her against the grip on her upper arms, him to the floor.

Magnum couldn’t quite take in what he was seeing, blinked like it would somehow help things make sense, and two more shots shattered the silence that had fallen along with Dead Man Walking’s dead body. Fractured Jaw and Imminent Compound Fracture both dropped, falling backward, pulling Higgins with them. Before they could react further than loosening their grip on Magnum’s arms, Broken Ribs and Broken Nose fell too.

Magnum felt their blood splashing on him, felt a jolt of white-hot pain as he landed hard on the concrete, but all he could think about was getting to Higgins. It had to be Rick and T.C.; HPD would have announced themselves, so he was safe; he just needed to get to Higgins. He could see the blood coating the side of her face, could see the stillness of her body, but he needed to get to her.

Familiar voices rang out as Rick and T.C. came running, guns still at the ready, but Magnum wasn’t listening to what they were saying. He was trying to shuffle over to Higgins, sure that the bullet had gone through her skull but just as sure that there had to be something they could do to save her. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Hang on, Tommy, lemme get these.” T.C.’s voice was strained, but Rick was at Higgins’ side, and Magnum stopped moving so T.C. could cut the zip ties that were pinning his arms and legs together. And then, when his limbs were free again, he couldn’t bring himself to move.

T.C. helped him up, but then the two of them stood there, watching as Rick carefully freed Higgins’ wrists and ankles and moved her to a more comfortable position. A siren slowly made itself heard, rushing toward their location, and Rick looked at the door with relief in his eyes.

“Good, she’ll probably need stitches.”

It didn’t click at first, what he’d said, what the words meant. Magnum had the slow thought that he was probably in shock. But then…

“Stitches?” His own voice sounded alien to him.

“The bullet ran along her scalp,” came the incredible reply. “She’s gonna have some awful headaches for a while.”

The relief was like a tidal wave; it washed away the fear and shock, but it also took Magnum’s consciousness with it. He dropped like a rock, T.C. just managing to stop his head crashing to the floor.

It was Katsumoto who came rushing in first, followed by a handful of other officers who cleared the area and checked for weapons around the fallen men before calling in the EMTs. Meanwhile, the detective hurried over to the foursome huddled together among the dead bodies. He took in the unusual paleness of Magnum’s face, the blood dripping from Higgins’ head, and looked between Rick and T.C.

“I thought they were looking for a teenager who was shacking up with her boyfriend.”

“So did they at first.” T.C. didn’t sound at all impressed.

“In their defense, they tried to call you in on this,” Rick offered, “but you didn’t answer their calls.”

Whatever Katsumoto was about to say in response was cut off by both Magnum and Higgins groaning quietly and the arrival of the EMTs.

…

The three of them were chatting quietly about how quickly Katsumoto had managed to find Malia, waiting for Higgins to wake up. She’d drifted off halfway through a slightly confused sentence, something they had been told was perfectly normal, and they had begged to be allowed to stay just a little past visiting hours so they could say goodbye before leaving. The last thing they wanted was for her to wake up expecting them to be there and to find herself alone. They had made a few references to her past, dropping the word "service" while carefully omitting the fact that, in the UK, at least, serving for military intelligence didn’t necessarily mean serving in the military, and her doctor had agreed to them waiting.

A quiet sigh had them all crowding around her bed, and the small smile that spread over her face when she opened her eyes and saw them told them it had been worth the lie.

“Hey you,” she said quietly, addressing them all.

“Hey yourself, Higgy Baby.” T.C. was gently stroking the back of her hand as he spoke and waited until her eyes had focused on him before carrying on. “Time for us to leave. We just wanted to say goodbye before we took off.” He kept his voice low; her head was still throbbing at random intervals, and everyday noises were proving too loud for her.

She gave a tiny pout that she didn’t even seem aware of and that each man privately thought was ridiculously adorable before closing her eyes again. “I suppose that means it’s bedtime?” Her voice was a little slower than normal, exhaustion and painkillers both playing their part.

“Yeah, that’s right, Jules.” Rick carefully brushed an errant curl away from her forehead, making sure to avoid the dressing that was covering the deep wound the bullet had carved into her scalp. “Time to go back to sleep.”

“And we’ll be back in the morning,” Magnum promised, gently squeezing the shoulder his hand was resting on. He had been discharged just a few hours after the ambulance had dropped him off, with orders to call his doctor if he started exhibiting any symptoms of a concussion, and had gone directly to Higgins’ room. He was hoping she would be discharged in the next day or so once they stepped down the painkillers, if only to give her wretched dogs something to do besides following him around the estate and drooling at the sight of his neck.

She muttered something, but none of them caught it, and then her face relaxed as sleep caught up with her again.

The three men each whispered a goodnight, Rick and T.C. both echoing Magnum’s promise to return as soon as they were allowed, and they crept out, carefully shutting the door of the private room behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> I will never stop putting these two idiots in peril! Or giving them fluffy endings. I may not keep up with whumptober, but I will never stop!


End file.
